Is it Really a Happy Birthday?
by The Beast in Repose
Summary: Hermione turns 16 and her world turns around. What will happen when she suddenly becomes the most wanted girl in Hogwarts...and out? Only a test. Possible A/U. Tell me what you think and I'll make it a regularly updated fiction. Yes,that's right, DRAMIONE
1. Subject Number--

Here you go! I hope you like it.

**DISCLAIMER!  
>...I ownz nutin...]= <strong>

****Please read the A/U at the bottom when you're finished.****

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**..**

Hermione was copying down her Transfiguration notes for Harry when she sensed the pair of eyes that were becoming all to familiar boring into the back of her head. She refused to acknowledge them this time. They were always the same. The same expression of intrigue mixed with disparity.

Despite the fact that Hermione was disliked by several people, one would never expect it of this person. Disturbing her studies, classes, and even her meals; every moment of the day, he strived to be there, wherever she was. Who was it?

Our very own Draco Malfoy.

Hermione knew he had good reason, though. It was all because she had been passing a note with Ginny back and forth in the corridors between classes—seeing as they didn't have any together. A note that happened to be all about Draco's personal life… His _**love**_ life to be precise.

Hermione carried a secret. Possibly even the biggest secret she would ever burden in her life.

She knew who liked Draco Malfoy.

And, naturally, due to Hermione's clumsiness and lack of hand-eye coordination, she missed catching the small piece of parchment. It seemed the most foolish thing she'd ever done, and the fact that the main topic of the note picked up the letter before she could. When she tried to pick it up, she almost got swamped and trampled by the sea of on-coming students. Though, it's not as though their passing of this note was inconspicuous, the girls had tried to be very careful about who saw and who didn't; and Draco noticed, to the worst of their efforts...

Or so Hermione thought.

-*-*-*-Three Days Ago-*-*-*-

Hermione had woken up with a light feeling in her stomach. She had had a dream about….well….let's just say it was nice. Flowers and the moon and a kiss… Definitely the most romantic dream she'd ever had.

She got up to begin her day, and started off with a shower. The sun was still just above the horizon when she finished dressing, so she turned and looked at her mirror, determined to tame her mass of curls. She wanted to look a little nice today, and she was going to have her way for once. After all, it was her sixteenth birthday. She figured she could do something. And so, she went about her hair, using charms that she had read about and a couple she had learned from Ginny.

In the end, she had managed to take out any frizz. Hermione was proud; she'd done her hair by herself!

She looked over at the sleeping forms of Padma and Parvati. Between their beds was the biggest box of cosmetics she'd ever seen. She figured they wouldn't mind if she used a little, and tip-toed over, grabbing the handle on the lid.

She went to pick it up, but it wouldn't budge. She tried every spell she could think of; even the feather-light charm wouldn't work.

'_Girls and their cosmetics...'_

Hermione looked up from Padma to Parvati and realized that they were both looking at her curiously.

"Trying to get into our make-up?"

"Definitely a new height for you, I'd say, right Padma?"

"Indeed, Parvati."

Hermione looked up at the girls in shock. She should have known they would wake up, but that wasn't what had her so stunned. A look glimmered in both their eyes that Hermione had hoped to never see directed at her.

She had seen it only once before. That poor second year; she didn't stand a chance. All she had done was mention that she was going on a date. The look on the Patil's faces nearly had poor Taylor running… and she should have while she had the chance…

Now, though, their attention on her, was such an intense moment, Hermione could feel a single drop of sweat run down the side of her face.

She tensed up and made ready to run. Two cats vs. one mouse wasn't exactly fair, and Hermione wasn't a very fast runner.

She looked once more from Parvati to Patil, then ran for it.

"Get Her!"

"Don't let her get away!"

Hermione jumped over her bed and ran straight for the door. She swung it open in terror. It was like she could feel them breathing on her neck. She had taken the stairs down three at a time-a dangerous feat for Hermione-and just made it into the common room when- -

"GOTCHA!"

"Bit of a quick'n, this one is."

"Let me GO!" Hermione thrashed and tried to get away from the eccentric twins. Looking around frantically, she spotted a single Fred Weasley watching with amusement as Hermione grabbed the doorframe.

"Fred! Help me please!"

Fred laughed as the bug-eyed girl struggled against the two sisters Grimm.

"Nah, it looks like you've got everything under control."

"But Fred! They'll kill me!"

"Now why on _earth_ would the Patil's want to kill you? It's only your sixteenth birthday."

If it was even possible, Hermione's eyes got even wider and she let out a strangled, "NO!" as the Patil twins shared a look of pure, utter, and undeniable determination.

Padma pulled out her wand,

"DON-"

"Petrificus Totalis!" Padma smirked evilly and winked at Fred.

"Try not to hurt her _too_ much, loves. I might need her later," Fred teased and winked back.

Parvati binded hermione's arms and legs, so she wouldn't be able to escape, and she and Padma began to ascend the stairs, Fred watching all the while with extreme amusement.

"We won't hurt her...too much."

The last thing Fred heard was a cry of pain and frustration, along with the girls' cry of: "Don't forget, my dear, beauty _is_ pain!"

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><p>Ok, you guys. You have to tell me what you think. I know there are a few of you that try to keep updated with my stuff, and I know that there are a few of you who gave me up for better prospects. Well, I'm giving you all this lovely slice just to see. I don't know how this is going to turn out, really, which is one of my biggest problem factors. I've been wanting to plan this ahead a couple chapters, but I'm losing inspiration quickly.<p>

Review please!

-~-  
>The Beast in Repose<br>-~-


	2. Poison & Beauty

**Chapter 2**

**..**

Fred had been sitting in the common room with Oliver, going over next week's game strategy - seeing as he was the only one Oliver could "convince" to get up and listen. Eventually Oliver had gone down to get breakfast, leaving Fred to snooze. He'd woken up when he heard a small squeal and running from the girls' dorms. He stood to address the on-coming...whatever it was, and his eyes were greeted with a strangely familiar mane of curls.

They were tame, and the face peeping from behind the wall of cascading waves caught Fred by surprise. The last person he expected to see was Hermione Granger. Fred knew she was an early riser, but expected her to sleep in on her birthday. This obviously was not the case as she was already running for her life from his dear friends, the Patil twins. This, he knew, was going to end with a big commotion.

Hermione had natural looks, he couldn't deny, but with a little "nudge" from the Patil's he expected a full out event. He could just imagine now how much attention she would be receiving, unwanted he knew she'd say. She deserved the eyes, though; she really had a natural beauty that few girls he knew possessed.

Figuring he had wasted enough time in the common room and went to wake George and tell him what had just occurred.

"Oh Goergey, my sweet!~" He called in a sing-song voice. Fred wasn't much worried about the other boys in the room. If you room with The Weasley Twins, you learn how to ignore wake-up calls. Especially if they're for you.

George let out a strangled sound, not unlike a harsh word of discontent.

"Oh, Georgey, now you know we can't start our favorite brain's birthday this way." Fred stated simply.

This had George up in a heart-beat. "No! Seriously? It's today?"

"Come on, George, we went over this yesterday. Today's the surprise party in her dorm room. Glad we didn't tell the Patil's though. They would've told anything that would sit still long enough to listen. Course, they've just found out it's today, courtesy of moi."

"Oh yeah..." He said, thinking back on it briefly. "Right. Carry on." George said with a wave of his hand as he stood to get dressed.

"Well, Oliver got me up this morning to go over routines for Quidditch-"

"Already?"

"Yeah."

"Awwh, it's too early for that! In season _and_ time."

"Innit? Any-who, so he up and left and I was doin' my own fair share of snoozin' in the common room when all the sudden I heard a girl scream. Not loud or nothing, almost a squeal, so I got up and was gonna head for the girls' dorm when I saw our favorite girl's bushel pop out of the doorway. She was holdin' onto it for dear life while the Patil's were pulling her back. I'm still wonderin' what she did to make them attack. She saw me and called for help and seeing as it wasn't serious, I poked at her a bit, asked her why I should and what-not. I felt like giving her a helping nudge in the right direction so I slipped that it's her 16th, and boy did the Patil's eat that up. Like Ron and chocolate frogs.. Or any meal for that matter."

"No doubt. Remember that Taylor girl?" George asked, tucking his shirt in for good measure.

Fred nodded. "Poor thing." They both said as they shook their heads.

"So what happened then?"

"Well, after the girls gave her a good strong body bind, I told the girls to go easy on her cause I'd need her for later."

"Wicked... You know she's gonna get you for that later."

"Yeah, but I think it'll be worth it. I mean, can you imagine how many guys will be on her today? I think she could use a little TLC after Ron and her didn't make the cut."

"No kidding. She'll look bloody fantastic. And I think we all knew Ron just wasn't the one for her, you know? Anyway, now we just have to play bodyguard all day so the weirdos stay away."

"Right. Forgot about that. Well, it's still better than watching her be alone. Though, yeah, we'll have to keep an extra eye on those Slytherins."

"I swear if I see even one make an attempt..."

"No kidding. Dinner will be served."

George perked an eyebrow and looked at Fred nonchalantly. "Main Course?"

"Knuckle Sandwiches?"

"Right. Sounds like a plan."

George then lead the way out of the dorms and into the Great Hall. A big day was ahead of them and they'd need a good breakfast to give them a head start.

...

Harry and Ron sat down to breakfast. Hermione hadn't been in the common room all morning, and they figured she had gone to breakfast without them, but when they got there, she was nowhere to be seen. The Weasley twins seemed perky today, so Harry assumed they had something to do with it, and when he tried to ask them, they just said the same thing each time.  
>"Haven't seen her."<p>

When he noticed the Patil twins enter looking too satisfied for comfort, he wondered if the two pairs had aligned forces for a day. What Harry didn't notice however, was the ever-approaching Draco Malfoy.

"Looking for a mudblood, Potter? What's wrong, yours run away? Finally realized how ugly she is?" Draco then burst into laughter at his own puns, and while he was laughing, the rest of the Hall got quiet.

...

Hermione glared at the Patils.

"Our best work yet, I think."

"Absolutely. Never done better."

"Stop glaring and relax your face or I'll put a spell on you to make you smile at all the boys."

Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away, trying her best to relax her twins were just standing around now. They wouldn't let her see herself, but she could tell they had done a lot. Her face felt heavy and her hair seemed like it was made of air; she couldn't feel it, but she knew it was falling down her back.

"Better get to breakfast then. Those binds will come undone in about 15 seconds. just long enough for us to run." Padma gave a big grin then, with Parvati made a mad dash for the Great Hall.

Hermione fretted and toiled in the 15 seconds that felt like hours. What had they done? She remembered that poor Taylor girl and shuddered. The binds then released her and she ran to get her books and bag so she wouldn't be late for breakfast. On the way out she passed a mirror, and when she saw her reflection, she had never felt so beautiful in her life.

"Oh, I don't have time for this!"

She ran her way to the Great Hall, trying every counter curse she'd ever learned or read about that had to do with appearances. When none of them seemed to work, she gave up; obviously the Patils knew what they were doing. She slowed just before the Great Hall and straightened her clothes, checking for anything out of place. She gathered her breath and entered the Hall as quietly as possible, trying not to get unwanted attention.

Hermione didn't get to notice the silence as she looked to Harry and saw Draco Malfoy, just catching the end of his statement before he broke out into laughter. Ignoring the sudden proximity of silence and stares from every head but Draco's, Hermione stormed right up to him and as he turned around to see why everyone had gone quiet, he caught a flash of beauty, then the sting of a hand connecting with his cheek. He made no sound or movement as the place where her hand connected began to turn red. No one made a sound.

"Enough. You have bullied me. Stomped on my friends. Called me ugly... Made me out to be less than human. Well, I have had enough. Stop now, while you have the chance, because if you don't, I will not hesitate to bring you down." Hermione said in a low voice. Draco looked up at her and stared, dumbfounded, at the teary-eyed siren in front of him.

Her once defiant hair was in perfect, soft spirals down her back, and she had makeup on in such a way that he thought she was a spirit of the earth. Light eye shadows of brown and tan, enough black liner to accent her brown eyes, and a light amount of blush to give to her already colored face. She was perfect.

Harry looked from her to Draco then back to her and said, "Hermione? Is.. Is that you?"

Hermione turned to Harry and said, "I haven't changed, Harry, just been... taken advantage of."

And with that, she turned and left the Hall, now no longer hungry for the poisonous atmosphere, and wanting to go back to bed.

Draco still hadn't moved, and as soon as Hermione left the Hall people started whispering to each other. "Was that really her?" "New student?" "Look at him, he hasn't even blinked." "She said those things..." "It sounded just like her though.."

"Malfoy."

Draco turned slowly to look at him. "Potter?" He asked Harry.

"... Stay away from her. She isn't the only one who's had enough."

Ron, sat staring at the entrance with bacon hanging out of his mouth and whispered, "Wow..."

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><p>Well, here you are pretties. I worked on it a bit shortly after posting the first chapter, but only too soon, I lost my fervor. So, about a week ago I figured out what I wanted and re-inspired myself. I have also been posting this on wattpad, so if you want you can read it there too. I don't know which one will be updated faster, but both will be updated around the same time. Add this after the .com following wattpad in the address bar to see it there :) 7963892-16-and-life-to-go-subject

Have a fun Halloween peeps :D


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